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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Down 18 early in the second half, the fifth-seeded University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team rallied back to within four before falling to fourth-seeded Seattle U 77-60 on Thursday in the quarterfinals at Orleans Arena.
 
Senior Nick Dixon led UTRGV (15-17) with 24 points, three rebounds and three steals. Junior Lew Stallworth scored eight points.
 
Richaud Gittens led Seattle U (20-12) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Hearlihy scored 16 points with seven rebounds. Aaron Menzies scored 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Matej Kavas also scored 12 points. Jordan Hill scored 11 points with eight rebounds.
 
Seattle U pushed its lead to 18 at 51-33 early in the second half. A Stallworth jumper and four Dixon free throws sparked a 16-2 run to bring UTRGV within 53-49.
 
UTRGV was still within four at 55-51 on a Stallworth layup with 7:19 left, but Seattle U scored the next eight points as part of a 14-4 run to push the game out of reach.
 
Kavas hit a pair of early three-pointers as Seattle U scored the first nine points en route to a 16-4 lead.
 
UTRGV still trailed by 11 with eight minutes left when junior Terry Winn and freshman Greg Bowie made jumpers and Dixon hit four free throws to power an 8-3 run that brought UTRGV within 26-20 at the 5:47 mark.
 
Seattle U, however, responded with a 13-2 run on the strength of two layups and two free throws by Menzies to go up 39-22.

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